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NB NDP leadership race
April 7, 2011 - 12:32pm
The New Brunswick NDP has named an interim leader - UNB law student and defeated provincial candidate Jesse Travis.
Quote:
CBC: NB NDP picks ex-candidate as interim leader Anyone in the running yet for the permanent position? Jesse Travis has been selected as New Brunswick's NDP interim leader as the party prepares for a full leadership convention next spring. Travis, a defeated candidate in the provincial election and a law student at the University of New Brunswick, was picked to take the on interim position in Moncton on Sunday. Travis placed a distant third in New Maryland-Sunbury West in the fall election. The NDP will be holding its full leadership convention on April 16, 2011.
Dominic Cardy is rumored.
Pierre Cyr is testing the waters. link
MEDIA ADVISORY
December 6 2010
DOMINIC CARDY TO ANNOUNCE LEADERSHIP INTENTIONS
FREDERICTON- Former NBNDP Campaign Director, Dominic Cardy will hold a press conference Tuesday, December 7th, at 10:00am, in the St. Croix room at the Crowne Plaza-Lord Beaverbrook hotel in Fredericton.
- 30 -
Lyndsey Gallant
[phone number deleted by moderator]
Dominic Cardy is in
Cardy told a news conference that he wants to continue the message of fiscal responsibility that Duguay put forward on the campaign trail.
"The message that he started to develop, and that I think resonated quite strongly with the people in the province, was the theme of fiscal responsibility, of linking government programs to the financial base that the province rests upon," Cardy said.
"And creating a competing environment for business, and so rather than doing anything particularly differently, I just want to take what Roger Duguay started and do it more, and faster."
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/12/07/nb-ndp-dominic-cardy-leadership-119.html#ixzz17SDyNP4a
Pierre Cyr posts on Facebook about Dominic Cardy
Pierre Cyr got 24.6% in Nepisiguit, the second-highest result in the North after Roger Duguay's 32.3%, third-highest in the province after Wayne Dryer's 27.6% in Saint John Harbour.
I'm happy to see Dominic running, and if he has competition in the family, that sounds healthy.
The problem with being the leader of the NB NDP is that its a full time job without a salary.
Since Elizabeth Weir left the response has been to attempt to replicate what she did: the one seat 'beachead' gets an MLAs salary for the leader. Its a tough row to hoe, having a life and the needs of building a party both tend to get short shrift, and when the latest leader fails to get a seat, she's burnt out.
"Next!"
The solution to this is party building at the grassroots. Building that is necessary for political development purposes, and means the party at least has enough depth to pay the leader a sustaining and sustainable salary.
This is similar to a job in a non-profit where you have to raise the money for a salary. But only similar in the financial details. Becasue in the case of a political party the financial capability comes as a concequence of the building of the political base.
As was apparent in Elizabeth Weir's days, being higher in the polls and the number of votes you get is just an opportunity to build that grassroots base. Actually building the base is a matter of legwork. And the NB NDP has never had that successful or sustained legwork from a leader.
If I know Dominic Cardy, he'll be delivering that message. Or maybe some of you have heard it already.
If you are running for the leadership, I can think of better things to do than chat up babble for the few in NB who will hear you. But maybe we'll hear a bit from Pierre Cyr again.
I'll be interesting to see if Cardy and Cyr will offer different messages and visions. Cardy appears to be, not surprisingly, putting forth a platform akin to the last provincial election. We will see if Cyr offers something to the left of that position.
Just wanted to comment on the first part of this post. The job is full time, but there is a salary that comes with it. It might be meager, but it's something.
Of course, if the majority of people in the province who support the party weren't so allergic to giving money, salary might not be such an issue. But I digress.
You can only get money if you ask for it. Which is more than direct mail and having a button on the website.
And asking more people for it goes along with developing the party. Which for example is not something that was done in Elizabeth Weir's otherwise more succesful tenure.
I did think the salary was zero. But if its not a level to sustain anyone except single people willing to get by at poverty level, it might as well be zero.
[head banging against brick wall]Why is the NDP always trying to respond to someone else's frame of reference instead of defending its own?[/head banging against brick wall]
Pierre Cyr posted the following on Facebook.
Je donnerai une conférence de presse à Beresford, N.-B. (Danny's) le 15 décembre à 10:00 heures pour annoncer mon intention d'entrer dans la course à la Chefferie du NPD. Soyez les bienvenus...Mon bon ami Wayne Dryer de St-Jean me rejoindra à la table principale.
At least as exciting as the BC NDP contest.
The New Democratic Party now has a race for its leadership after Pierre Cyr decided to put his name forward to replace Roger Duguay.
Pierre Cyr, who was defeated in the northern riding of Nepisiguit in the Sept. 27 election, will contest the party's leadership.
Cyr, who is a retired public servant, announced his leadership bid at a press conference in Beresford on Wednesday.
Although he was defeated in the provincial election, Cyr garnered 24 per cent of the vote in the rural northern riding.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/12/16/nb-pierre-cyr-ndp-leadership-546.html#ixzz18Hc6S2qM
I crossed the Kennebecasis last week and joined the Party last week in order to have a vote in the upcoming leadership convention.
Cyr's application rejected:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/atlantique/2011/03/02/004-rejet-candidature-npd-nb.shtmlThis is terrible for the Party. Cyr and Cardy offer two clear visions for the Party. If Cyr's candidacy is rejected, I will be resigning my membership and ceasing my financial support of the Party.
Don't you think that there could be legitimate grounds for rejecting someone's application to run for leader?? As I understand it, the party set some conditions that had to be met to allowed to run for leader - and all the candidates agreed to meet those conditions. One of them was that to run for leader you had to sign up at least 100 new members to the party or something along those lines.
I don't know the reasons for Cyr's candidacy being rejected - but if he failed to clear the incredibly low bar of signing up 100 new members - what does that tell you about how good a job he would do as leader in growing the party???
Given that Cardy is the current ED of the Party, I think optics demand that Cyr be permitted to contest the leadership.
Here are the requirements Stock:
Registration requirements
(a) To register for the leadership election, leadership candidates must:
i. be members in good standing of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party;
ii. submit their completed nomination form to the Chief Electoral Officer;
iii. register at least one hundred new monthly donors of $5 per month or more; and
iv. pay a non-refundable registration fee of one thousand dollars ($1000.00)
by 5pm on March 2, 2011.
http://nbndp.ca/sites/default/files/Rules%20for%20the%20Leadership%20EN.pdf
Those strike me as very easy requirements - I don't see why someone has any business running for leader if they can't meet them. According to the news report, Cyr is not appealing anything so I guess he is not disputing that he was incapable of meeting the requirements. C'est la vie.
I have to say, that signing up 100 new people on monthly PAC is anything but trivial in a place like New Brunswick.
It sounds to me like it could have been a well meaning idea of Dominic's: anyone who wants to be leader can do this. Show their stuff. Head nods around.
Not realizing that maybe that is even harder to people who have no experience doing THAT in particular, then the idea of getting support to be Leader.
I really doubt that Dominic or anyone else wanted an acclamation.
That said, if the requirements were to be questioned, the time was quite a while ago.
But I do think this was ill conceived.
Don't you think that if someone wants to lead a party with no seats and just 10% of the vote - they ought to be able to provide PROOF that they are capable of expanding the party and getting new members and donors??
Have you read the article, Stockholm?
I read the article - it really doesn't say much. Cyr admits his candidacy did not meet the requirements and he provides no details as to why and says he won't appeal. There is some vague innuendo, but no details. In the absence of any other information, I can only assume that he wasn't capable of signing up 100 new donors and was deemed ineligible. Tough luck.
Signing up 100 new donors is NOTHING compared to the herculean task of leading the party with no seat in the leg. and no money in the bank over the next four years and trying to raise money and sell memberships and build up infrastructure. I think this requirement was a very good way to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Cyr supposedly submitted the application at the end of last week and was waiting to hear back according to his Facebook. Presumably he felt he met requirements. Perhaps some of the sign-ups were questioned or invalidated. I'm interested to hear the whole story.
I've been thoroughly unimpressed all around with this "race" to date. The Cardy camp has been aggressive to the point of harrassment on the Cyr page while Cyr has been an extremely poor communicator. This thing has turned ugly in a hurry and no one from candidates to supporters have aquitted themselves well at all. If it didn't mean pulling the plug on Federal membership, I'd seriously consider resigning from the party. As it is, I'm questioning continuing PAC if this is the leadership we're getting.
I've looked at the Cyr facebook page and what you call "the Cardy camp" seems to consist of literally two or three individuals (who maybe ought to give it a rest). Ever heard of a tempest in a teapot??
BTW, the article in the link has changed contents since I posted. Not much new information, but it no longer has Cyr's accusations that selection committee members are campaigning for Cardy. It does now have reactions from Duguay and Cardy.
CBC English now has the story as well:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/03/02/nb-cardy-ne...
We'll see how this plays out in the next few days.
ETA: From the NB NDP website.
FREDERICTON - Dominic Cardy is the new leader of the New Brunswick NDP, the party announced today.
Mr. Cardy will hold a press conference to discuss his plans for the party and the province tomorrow, March 3rd, at 1:00pm, at the Restigouche Room in the Crowne Plaza-Lord Beaverbrook Hotel at 659 Queen St. in Fredericton.
Stephen Beam, the Treasurer and Official Representative of the New Brunswick NDP, and the Chief Electoral Officer for the leadership election, released the following statement:
On November 27th, the New Brunswick NDP Provincial Council adopted leadership election rules which required prospective candidates to pay a $1000 nomination fee, recruit 100 new people to the party's monthly donor plan, and undergo a rigorous background check. The rules stipulated that the nomination deadline would be 5pm today, March 2, 2011.
Dominic Cardy submitted his nomination package to the party's provincial office on January 31, and his candidacy was confirmed on February 8.
A second candidate submitted a package on February 16, but before the nomination process was completed, the candidate informed me in writing that he was withdrawing from the contest, citing personal reasons.
Thus, with the nomination deadline having now passed, I have declared Dominic Cardy the winner the New Brunswick NDP leadership race.
http://nbndp.ca/node/473
So which is it?
Cyr claims he was rejected and then tried to appeal, thought better of it, then changed his mind again and was denied a last minute appeal on deadline day.
The Beam statement claims Cyr pulled out before the "process was completed" but doesn't mention any rejection.